Amazon sold nine times as many Amazon Echo devices this holiday

Guess what – Amazon sold a whole bunch of Echoes this holiday. Nine times as many as last year, according to its count. Of course, the company’s never been inclined to give specific numbers when it comes to this sort of thing, only revealing in a press release this morning that it moved “millions” worldwide.

There were some telltale signs over the past couple of weeks, as the devices proved really tough to get ahead of the holidays both through Amazon and retail partners like Best Buy. And, of course, there’s the fact that the line is now available in more countries and price points than it was this time last year, thanks in part to the introduction of devices like the low-cost Echo Dot.

More to the point though, both the Echo and Echo Dot were at the top of the retailer’s list of best sellers for the year, with Amazon noting that the company had trouble keeping the things in stock, “despite [its] best efforts and ramped-up production.”

According to its numbers, Amazon shipped north of one billion items during the holiday season by way of Prime and Fulfillment by Amazon, with its own products topping the lists in a variety of categories.